Elitetrack: Sport Training & Conditioning

Friday Sept 12th

Had to put 2 sessions in one today as im off to Oceanside for the weekend…

warm up, static and dynamic stretch
hurdle step over drills
10x15m medball sprints w/ 2 concentric vertical jumps to a 28inch box in between each sprint

28x1 cleans (70%) w/30 secs rest
5x6+6 lunges
5x6 + 5x9 incline DB press + Pull ups (seperset)

Really good session today, sprints felt good, focusing on full triple extension after throw, before sprint. Was good, felt quick…jumps were powerful, same focus plus very aggresive arm action….

Weights went well…capacity is gaining im sure, 28 cleans was pretty easy at that weight…pleased overall…

Sat is rest…then i start tech devel on sunday…cant wait!

Sunday sept 14th…

Warm up
static and dynamic stretch
sprint drills

LJ technical development -

3x5 step LJ over hurdle (no landing)
3x7 step LJ over hurdle (no landing)
3x9 step LJ over hurdle (no landing)

2x30m various low intensity single leg ankle hops
2x10 various squat walks
1x30secs on/off abbs circuit

Was really pleased with today. I had 2 goals going into todays practice, they were too FOCUS FOCUS FOCUS on LEGAL jumps EVERYTIME!!! and for a very aggressive take off, with powerful knee drive…

My legal jumps were 1/3 at 5 steps, 3/3 at 7 steps and 3/3 at 9 steps. I was a perfect 7/7 when i visually steered to the board (as in, looked at the board until final stride) and i was 0/2 when i didnt look at all. So i think i learned something today. Good height as well…felt great jumping from a little speed.

Monday Sept 15th…

After yesterday my soleus was really tight and sore on my jump leg…not really sure why. I iced and stretched alot but needed an extra long warm up and stretch today to get myself going…

dynamic hurdle drills
2x15m of each bounding series - LLL, RRR, LRL, RLR, RRL, LLR, RRLL, LLRR
4x30m alternate bounding
4x30m single leg bounding

I had around a 3-4 hour break, then headed back to the track for workout no.2,

6x4 snatch clean deadlifts @92.5% of clean max
4x6 + 4x8 DB shoulder press + bent over row (superset)

2x15m sprints (falling start)
4x10m sprints (5m walk in start)

Second training went well, although it was very hot and i think i sweated my body weight in the weight room. I felt stronger than i was, deadlifts were easier today than they were last week. The biomachanics of acceleration is slowly coming back to me now, and today i felt very co-ordinated and pretty quick as well…

Because of Nick’s previous problems with fouling, we’re playing around with some things that I have yet to see fully implemented in the sport of track. As he mentioned to in his post from the 14th we’re using variable approach distances in practice. We’re starting with a mini-block approach and will be adding variability of order as well as other forms of contextual interference as the season progresses to improve his ability to steer towards the board.

Yeah, since the final meet of last season where i fouled 6 SIX ! consecutive jumps…all i have been thinking about was how i prepared myself for last season in terms of this issue. There was rarely ever a practice jump that wasnt a foul by an inch or so during, i would say 3-4 straight months. I honestly just thought it would come together in the meets, therefore i never really gave my short approach fouls in practice a second thought.
After doing alot of research and soul searching i realised what a huge mistake this was. So, from day 1 of this season myself and Mike made this problem the main goal for us to tackle this season. I am already feeling different about the problem, the first jumps practice where i legally jumped all jumps from 7 and 9 strides was something that i had NEVER done before. It wasn’t just pot luck either, i visualy had control of where i was going during those jumps. Felt pretty good!

Wednesday Sept 17th…

Today is my least favorite training day of the week. Its haaaaaaaaaaaard!

7x3 clean shrugs, last 3 @100% clean max
3x5 deep squats, last 1 @82.5 squat max
3x4 3 step squat @60%
5x4 DB bench
2x8+8 slow single leg eccentric calf raises

Then after a few hours rest…

7x30m hill sprints!!!

Well, went much better than the previous weeks…i actually felt like i had another gear today while running up the hill. I tried to be tall and bouncy all the way up. I have a big knot in my right hamstring, it was pretty sore after i jumped on sunday (which is always a good thing, because if my hamstring is sore after i LJ, i know my take off is right!) but it just got worse over the week and now its pretty bad…need a massage!

Thursday sept 18th…

man o man am i sure today…its def the 3 step squats that kill be each week. I got my hamstring massaged yesterday and the knot feels better, now both legs are just crazy sore…relativley speaking (except bench) my squat is my weakest lift, so we are trying hard this year to get it up around 420lbs or somewhere like that…Hopefully all these different methods will work…

Weighed myself today…182lbs! i was 175 just 4 weeks ago when i started training…This usually happens to me, although last year i remained under 180 up until week 6 i think. I am noticing that im filling out up top and in my legs.

With the supplements you suggested Mike and the weight training as it is, was it your goal for me to get a little bigger in the thigh/hamy/butt area so my strength potential would increase?

So the workout for today:

long warm up and stretch
various sprint drills over 40m + 10m sprint off

1 step continious LJ take offs over hurdles - 5x4 hurdles each leg
3x30m skips for height
3x30m skip for distance

2x endurance circuit (30secs on/off)
ankle rehab stuff

Went well, i love the hurdle take off drill. Rhythm felt great today, nice quick pop back up after each landing….good stuff…

I pretty sore, need lots of ice…i expect big testing results next week though.

I’m not too concerned about the weight right now although I don’t want it to get over 185 for you. I’m not really intentionally trying to hypertrophy although that is sometimes a by-product of lots of squatting with long TUT. I suspect and expect the weight to come off prior to the competitive season. The main goal with that is to increase a semi-specific endurance and work capacity. It also leads nicely in to other squat variations.

For those interested, I suggested Nick take a whey protein powder, gluatamine, a multi-vit and beta-alanine. Did I miss anything?

Why beta alanine for a jumper?  Just asking.  I almost told a couple of my guys not to take it last year but bit my tongue and they all PR’d significantly.

crazyhops - 18 September 2008 01:12 PM

Thursday sept 18th…

man o man am i sure today…its def the 3 step squats that kill be each week. I got my hamstring massaged yesterday and the knot feels better, now both legs are just crazy sore…relativley speaking (except bench) my squat is my weakest lift, so we are trying hard this year to get it up around 420lbs or somewhere like that…Hopefully all these different methods will work…

Just curious, what have been your weights for the deep squats and the three-step squats?

There’s some research to suggest that it helps improve body composition but more importantly it will reduce neuromuscular fatigue and enhance strength and power. While increased endurance (via carnosine production) is the most widely recognized benefit there are many more.

well, in terms of actual weight…most ive done so far with deep squat is 5 reps of 255lbs and 3 step squat 4 reps of 186lbs…

Mike Young - 18 September 2008 02:21 PM

There’s some research to suggest that it helps improve body composition but more importantly it will reduce neuromuscular fatigue and enhance strength and power. While increased endurance (via carnosine production) is the most widely recognized benefit there are many more.

Would there be any detriment to using it for 400m training year round (intended as a buffering agent).  Could that cause any unwanted issues such as limiting adaptations regarding lactate tolerance?

For Nick or Mike,

Will he use creatine at any point during the year?

His actual squat max from last year was 380. Clean max of 300.